Buying "Likes" on websites.....

[ufkacbln]

I don't really do Facebook / Twitter etc, but I understand that "Likes" are a measure of popularity and can be used by Companies to claim popularity and also (IIRC) give them higher standing on searched etc.

However I see an increasing number of situations where these are being either paid for by the company or there is a moral incentive.

Two examples were a company where you get a discount if you "like" and the second a company where if you "like" them on Facebook they will donate a sum to charity

Is this not simply "Buying votes" and invalidating the whole principle of "likes"

 

[MattHB]

It's funny you mention this, I saw this the other day on a life insurance website and thought the same thing.

I have a feeling that if you search for a page on Facebook it ranks the results by likes, to try to show the most popular first, so there is method in their considerable madness.

FB has taken over the world.

 

[Kies]

I think your right,it has been hijacked by the marketing people and turned into a business opportunity.
I was on fb and twitter as a way of keeping in touch with distant friends & family,but we have gradually moved away from both mediums recently.
The humble email is far better,and we can send pictures of the children etc
I have deleted fb and twitter as of Jan 1

 

[just jim]

I will "like" this post for a small fee.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

[QUOTE 2291087, member: 45"]The world has been fooled into thinking that FB is for our benefit.[/quote]

Yup. If you're not paying for a website with money then YOU are the product.

I don't think social networking is a bad think but perhaps folk should be mindful of the fact they are the product.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

Yup. If you're not paying for a website with money then YOU are the product.

The NHS should be regarded in the same way, the government is the customer, the patient is the product.

 

[ufkacbln]

I will "like" this post for a small fee.

Send me your bank account details and I will empty it make a suitable donation

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

FB has taken over the world.

As a non-user I sometimes feel left out, but maybe that's what they want me to think.

Unlike George Orwell's big brother, ironically FB has no Face. Perhaps it is designed to assume whatever face appeals to its 'members'. Far cosier than Orwell's version. No doubt a lot has been learned since 1984!

 

[pauldavid]

As a non-user I sometimes feel left out, but maybe that's what they want me to think.

Unlike George Orwell's big brother, ironically FB has no Face. Perhaps it is designed to assume whatever face appeals to its 'members'. Far cosier than Orwell's version. No doubt a lot has been learned since 1984!

As a non user I have never felt left out, and am amused by the number of friends who are now leaving FB because of what it has become. Why could they not see it for the biggest waste of time ever before?

 

[Archie_tect]

Nothing lasts forever.

 

[Pale Rider]

Nothing lasts forever.

Agreed, although when your are in the middle of the boom time, there's a temptation to think it will.

I also wonder about the longevity of internet forums.

Neither is much older than five or so years for most users, not long compared to some other forms of communication.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

internet forums were around long before facebook, myspace or twitter…

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I don't do fb or twitter etc etc. this forum is my fb, and I spend too much time on here rather than getting on with my assignments.

I stupidly leave it on in the background, but it's harmless.

On another note, how do you close a fb account? I opened one years ago when I got a smart phone and used it once just see what the fuss was about.

I'm still getting emails about friend requests and do I know certain people, years later.

 

[Archie_tect]

I've been told you have to delete it all from your computer and leave it unactivated [even opening an email counts as a response] for so many weeks but that doesn't seem to work either.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

I had a mass mipe out the other night and deleted everyone off face book, so now i can turn it on and not be annoyed by anyone as i dont get any posts,,, ahh peace at last =.
Signed up to twitter and found out there are lot of dull celebs out there tweeting utter tosh, so sod that , never will i tit / twot / twoot or whatever a twatter is called.